Uganda Specials Part 2
Daily log. Names in capitals are first sightings for us.
Day 1
Met by Johnnie at Entebbe ex Johannesburg, omitting to change
currency, an expensive mistake, the airport has the best rates, few places
including the best lodges will take travellers cheques because of a fraud a
few years ago, most places won't take US dollars, no one accepts any dated
before 1996 because of a forgery scam. Use the local shillings. Drove past
Lake Victoria, into the Hotel Africana in Kampala. Very dour but overlooking
Kampala itself, with scores of circling Marabou Storks, Hooded Vultures,
Pied Crows, Black Kites, Mosque Swallows and Palm Swifts 'scoped from the
verandah.. Aaah, Africa!
Day 2
Woken at 5.30am by call to the faithful from an impressive mosque
on nearby hill. Drive to Mabamba Wetland near Entebbe for a first stab at
Shoebill. A family of fabulous GREAT BLUE TURACOS on the way in, a great
first tick, should be their National Bird. Also Eastern Plantain Eater,
Pin-tailed Wydah and Red-chested Cuckoo along the track. It ended at an
extensive papyrus swamp on a L.Vic. backwater. BLUE-BREASTED BEE-EATER,
SWAMP FLYCATCHER near carpark.
Explored the swamp in a silent, wooden, paddle-powered canoe,
along narrow canals in the 3-4m tall papyrus, a fantastic experience.
(Forgive the repeated superlatives, we are very impressionable) A
BLUE-HEADED COUCAL climbing through papyrus near the landing, also a
White-browed Coucal. Malachite Kingfishers perched a half a metre away from
the canoe, also Woodland and Striped Kingfishers, and where the swamp opened
into deeper water, hundreds of Pied Kingfishers and African Jacanas, scores
of Squacco Herons. Just missed a Lesser Jacana, the boatman had seen a
resident single taken by African Marsh Harrier the day before. Saw GREATER
SWAMP WARBLER, African Reed Warbler, Fan-tailed Widowbirds, BROWN-THROATED
WEAVER. Many raptors, African Sea Eagles calling from high above, African
and Eurasian Swamp Harriers, Black-chested and Western Banded Snake-eagles,
African Harrier-hawk, European Honey-buzzard, Long-crested Eagle and
Bataleur. Plenty of Gull-billed and Whiskered Terns, Grey-headed and Lesser
Black-backed Gulls. Purple Swamphen, with a green back unlike the Australian
form, Common Moorhen, Black Crake. CARRUTHERS CISTICOLAS seen and heard.
White-faced Whistling Duck and Hottentot Teal. We paddled to an island and
found RED-CHESTED SUNBIRD. Angola and Wire-tailed Swallows, Sand Martins,
Little and White-rumped Swifts.
No Shoebill, but this was a magic place, teeming with birds. As
we glided along narrow canals between tall walls of papyrus and blue water
lilies, the only noise was birdsounds and paddle plops.
Drove to Lake Mburo, stopped at a grassy wetland with two
hundred Grey-crowned Cranes dancing "at a crane wedding" according to
Johnny. A great birding sight in my scope. Several Rufous-bellied Herons,
Black Crake, Open-billed and Saddle-billed Storks, Hamerkop, Sacred, Hadada
and Glossy Ibis, Spur-winged Goose, African Pygmy-goose, Long-toed and
Brown-chested Plovers, Wood Sandpiper.
Speckled and Feral Pigeons, Ring-necked, Red-eyed and Laughing
Doves along the roads near habitation. Little and White-throated Bee-eaters
as well, Speckled Mousebird, Crowned, African Grey Hornbills and Black and
White Casqued in roadside scrub. SUPERB SUNBIRD in a garden., and
Grey-backed Fiscal on powerlines. Ruppels Long-tailed and SPLENDID
STARLINGS. Colonies of Black-headed Weavers at every settlement it seemed.
Common Waxbills and Red-billed Firefinches seen.
Arrived late at the Mantana Tented Camp within Lake Mburo
N.P., past Zebras, Buffalo, Warthogs, Topi, Impala, Bushbuck and Defassa
Waterbuck. The original (declined) accommodation had been in a town over an
hour away. Our first experience with trying to check the fieldguide by
kerosene lamp, and with having a servant bring a bucket of hot water for the
shower sited at the back of the tent. Slept like babies.
Day 3.
An unidentifiable predawn song had me out early, but wasn't game
to stray too far with Buffalo a few metres away, but eventually saw it
coming from a Fork-tailed Drongo, which completely changed it's tune to the
usual twang once the sun was fully up.
Did a couple of hours of good Savannah birding in the NP,
White-backed and White-headed Vultures, Western Banded Snake-eagle, another
Gymnogene, they were common in Uganda., Wahlbergs Eagle, Crested Francolin,
Red-necked Spurfowl, African Wattled Plover, Emerald -spotted Wood Dove,
Brown Parrot, Bare-faced Go-away Bird, Red-Chested Cuckoo, African Black
Swift, Cinnamon-chested, Eurasian and Little Bee-eaters Bee-eater, Common
Scimitarbill, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, YELLOW-FRONTED TINKERBIRD,
Spot-flanked Barbet, White-headed Barbet, Lesser Striped Swallow, Sooty
Chat, Trilling and Long-tailed Cisticolas.Lead-coloured and GREY-THROATED
FLYCATCHERs in forested area, Chin-spot Batis, African Blue Flycatcher,
Black-lored Babbler, African Black-headed Oriole.Yellow-billed Oxpecker. Not
much at the lakeside itself.
The road to Bwindi NP produced McKINNON'S FISCAL, Grey
Kestrel, Broad-billed and Lilac-breasted Rollers, Ross's Turaco in gully
below gas-station in Fort Portal. Beyond this the country became hilly then
extremely scenic and mountainous as we approached Buhoma, the town at the
entry to Bwindi NP. Chubb's Cisticola, White-browed Robin-chat, Green-headed
Sunbird, Brubru,Sulphur-breasted Bush-shrike,Greater Blue-eared Starling,
Yellow Bishop, White-winged Widow-bird, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu, Village
Indigobird, Yellow-fronted Canary, Streaky Seed-eater, Golden-breasted
Bunting in bush and fields along the road.
Met Alfred T. next to his sign entering Buhoma, a cook was
organised for Ruhizha the following night, and we arrived at dusk at
Gorilla Lodge. Found our way to the cabins by torchlight, two-way radio in
hand. This was where the "incident" occured, insurgents kidnapped US
tourists a few years ago and executed them with machetes back in the Congo,
whose border is a walk away, now very heavily guarded by gun-toting
soldiers. We felt very safe.
Enjoyed a four-star meal and wine that night, a top
Joburg. chef had been brought up to cater for some dignitary the following
week.
Part 3, Three days of exotic Bwindi birds and the
Gorillas, to follow.
Michael Hunter
Mulgoa Valley
50km west of Sydney Harbour Bridge
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